Party Walls

There is no single retrofit that is a panacea for all multifamily buildings. There are myriad options and permutations for upgrades, the efficacy of which is defined by the operational needs, budget, and goals set by the owner. With that in mind, we will examine six retrofits popular with SWA clients in this three-part blog series. (more…)

As we wrap up another successful year here at SWA, the Accessibility Compliance and Consulting Group would like to take a moment to reflect on some memorable achievements from 2015. Here are a few SWAwesome things we want to celebrate:

1. An Anniversary. On July 26th, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) officially turned 25, providing an opportunity to reflect on how this law has changed the face of accessible design and continues to promote equal access for people with disabilities. SWA marked the milestone with a hugely successful twitter campaign #ADA25 SWAnniversary, led by our in-house expert Tweep, Theresa D’Andrea, Accessibility Specialist.
   

   Universally designed kitchen showcasing products for enhanced accessibility.

2. Accessible Products. We kicked off the year by rolling out SWA’s Product Guide for Enhanced Accessibility which was developed as a direct response to the needs of our clients. This guide showcases potential product solutions that can improve access to and usability of spaces and features contained within them for a wide array of building occupants. We’ve also recently established partnerships with more than a dozen new vendors. Stay tuned for more products to be added in early 2016.
3. Health and Accessibility. We’ve made serious headway in championing the idea that designing for health is linked to designing for people with disabilities. SWA was appointed as Lead on Accessibility for AIA|DC’s Design + Wellbeing Committee and debuted our new role with a blog post published in Architecture DC. SWA was also invited to present next year at the AIA 2016 National Convention on the relationship between healthy design and accessible design. Be sure to come see us next spring in Philadelphia.
4. Travel USA. This year, our accessibility consultants had the opportunity to travel to projects all across the country, from California to Florida. Particular travel heroes were Senior Accessibility Consultants, Harold Bravo, Certified Access Specialist in the State of California; and Jeff Heitert, Registered Accessibility Specialist in the State of Texas. And let’s not forget the countless industry presentations led by Senior Accessibility Consultant, Mark Jackson, who presented at Design DC in Washington, DC; the Build Expo in Dallas, TX; the 2015 AIA National Convention in Atlanta, GA; among many other.
5. YOU. Last, but never least, we are grateful for another successful year with our clients, partners, and colleagues. Because of our diverse set of clients, we’ve had the opportunity to work with state and local governments, builders and architects, and others to create accessible homes, restaurants, retail stores, hotels, and more. The Accessibility Group wants to thank clients, new and old, who have helped us achieve our mission of creating safe and equitable spaces for people with disabilities.

Wishing you and yours a very happy, healthy, and accessible Holiday Season!

-The Accessibility Compliance and Consulting Group

In partnership with the District of Columbia’s Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) and the Institute for Better Communities (IFBC), SWA is implementing DC’s first multifamily housing energy and water challenge.

What is the POWER DOWN DC Challenge?

POWER DOWN DC is a 4 month building-to-building, education focused competition in Washington, DC with a goal of empowering  building residents and staff to change behavior and reduce overall energy and water usage. Residents compete as a building team against  other apartment buildings to hit a reduction target and strive to make the greatest overall  reduction. 

Driving Savings through Friendly Competition

The basic concept is simple: bringing people together for friendly competition is more likely to encourage meaningful action than simply providing information about energy and water efficiency alone. By joining the competition, participants try to reduce their own energy and water use and help members of their apartment community  do the same. Residents will be encouraged to make a commitment to efficiency and take simple steps every day that collectively will have a big payoff. Actions like turning off lights, fixing a leak, and taking shorter showers, multiplied across dozens of apartment units will have quick results. In DC, residential buildings make up 20% of total energy use and 23% of total water use.  If all multi-family residents take action, we can save 83,000,000 kilowatt hours (KWH)  of energy, 96,000,000 gallons of water, and $31, 400,000 dollars annually. Small steps = big savings. 

(more…)

Greenbuild 2015 has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep celebrating its “monumental” success. Having a booth in the expo hall allowed us to meet so many engaging and intelligent people.  We want to extend a gigantic thank you to all those that stopped by the SWA booth for making our experience memorable and rewarding.

Bummed you missed Greenbuild 2015? No fear, reader! Here are five takeaways from the massive green building gathering.

Greenbuild 2015 Five Takeaways (more…)

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth last week at Greenbuild 2015 in Washington, D.C.! By all accounts, this year’s event was a great success. In case you missed it, our fearless leader, Steven Winter, spoke at the GAF booth on Wednesday. As an architect who has been practicing building science for the past 50 years, he shared insights about some building science innovations that he thinks have been “game changers” and have intrigued him: they are changing the way we design, build and operate buildings.

Here are the highlights:

(more…)

High-quality design, engineering, and construction; the guiding principles used to assemble a team of building experts tasked with creating a demonstration project embodying cutting edge sustainability. Led by the New Hampshire-based builder Unity Homes and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, a hand-selected team of product manufacturers and technical consultants have collaborated to develop the 2015 Greenbuild Unity Home. As the green building certification specialists, SWA’s Maureen Mahle and Karla Butterfield are managing the planning, design, construction, inspection, and testing of the modular home according to LEED BD+C Homes v4 Platinum, ENERGY STAR^® v3, and EPA’s WaterSense and Indoor AirPlus certification program requirements. For last year’s conference, SWA provided similar services to verify the 2014 Greenbuild Living Home.

(more…)

The Stamford 2030 District is an interdisciplinary collaborative of high-performance buildings in downtown Stamford committed to ambitious efficiency goals. Stamford 2030 District’s strategic plan outlines a series of interim sustainability goals guiding the city towards 50% reduction in energy use, water consumption, and CO2 emissions for existing buildings and infrastructure, and full carbon neutrality for all new construction by 2030. Watch the video to hear key program stakeholders discuss success measures, including SWA’s Gayathri Vijayakumar on the role of benchmarking, and Mayor David Martin on public-private-nonprofit community participation.

Air-source heat pumps are a booming business. In the Northeast, manufacturers report that sales of residential systems have increased by 25-35% per year over the past 5-10 years. We’ve seen more and more systems being installed in existing homes (to provide cooling while offsetting oil or propane used for heating) and into new homes (often as the sole source of heating and cooling).

We’ve looked into these systems often, and from many perspectives. I’m planning a series of posts, but, for now, here are the answers to some basic questions we receive from clients.

First, the basics: What is an air-source heat pump (ASHP)?

It’s an air conditioner that can operate in reverse. During the summer, it moves heat from indoors to outdoors. In the winter, it moves heat from outdoors to indoors. We helped NEEP (the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships) to put together a market assessment and strategy report on ASHPs. The early sections in this document (see p. 12) outline the different terms and types of heat pumps (ducted/ductless, split/packaged, mini-split, multi-split, central, etc.) Unfortunately, different people can use the same term to mean different things, but hopefully the NEEP Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Air-Source Heat Pump Strategies Report can help clarify things.

 

(more…)

By Kai Starn, Sustainability Consultant

Autumn has arrived again in the Northeast and the foliage is in full splendor. Over the Canadian Thanksgiving / Columbus Day weekend, I headed up to Ontario to deliver one final truckload of building materials to my family’s property there, which is located an hour and a half across the Canadian border. While I am a Connecticut native, the land bordering the Frontenac Provincial Park has been in my family for generations. In the 1980’s, my grandfather logged the area, and subsequently built a road and a log cabin on the property, which is where my grandmother now spends time during the summer.

The main cottage is a gathering place for family reunions; as such, I had always envisioned building a small weekend cabin to accommodate extra people for the occasions when there was sure to be a full house. About a year ago, I began to design and build this structure. When completed, the tiny cabin will be a simple, un-insulated cottage of old. But, dang, if it doesn’t scream summer and lake and relaxation!

(more…)